Back into the update mode:)

It appears that I have been tardy in updating my blog again. Not a lot has happened in my life I guess. The hubby has been spending time at the deer camp so I basically stay at home and do my housework while he is gone. {That's what I'm suppose to do, right! hahaha}

It was weird to go to the Legion by myself on Friday night for dinner and then come right home after my radio show too. It was fortunate that I had a ticket for the Pig & Lamb Roast for the radio station on Saturday. Seeing as I had a meeting at The Lodge on the island from 10am-12noon, I packed s few drinks as well as a lunch. After the meeting I went to the station to sort some of my music files and eat my lunch. Then I took a drive up the road to an open house. It was a beautiful home, on the water, but not something we could afford at 269K !!!

So I spent time with the camera I borrowed from work; having a camera at hand is almost as good as having someone to talk to at a social event! The event was well attended (about 166 tickets) and the rain held off all day. Here are a few pictures of the event:




Billy came home to a very clean house and we ended up going. The sun was out but there was a real chill in the air. I just sat in the passenger seat and took pictures out the window of the car. How lazy, but you cant ignore a bright blue sky, can ya?!



On Monday, I had to stop along the side of the road to take a few pics of Sun coming up! Please tell me why the sun only shows up on week days?

Tomorrow I have volunteered my time to the Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament. And it is going to rain. Good reason to call in sick on Friday I guess:)

The Long weekend SUCKED - Weather-Wise that is !

Yesterday (Sunday) was yet another crappy-ass day so we went to McGinnis Landing for lunch then tripped over to Shayne and Steph's new house for a quick visit!
Of course Shayne was excited to how me his new camera:

And I was jealous that he his new house came with its own grocery cart! Bill was envious of the garage that held the grocery cart:

That evening we attended the third annual Doyle Road Shindig at Harly and Judy's house. The usual bunch of characters were in accounted for...even Jim Reagan, who sported the most hilarious t-shirt:

This party was for all of us to reflect back to what we were doing and what we wanted to be 30 years ago. Judy and Chrissy were the only ones who came in costume:

Here is a picture of Chrissy and her friends sucking back the jello shooters:

I am unsure how this happened, but this picture of Pa walking across the fire came out as a double exposure?

And this shot was kind of cool as well:

It was a great party...Everyone was in a good mood as the weather-gods managed to hold the rain away for the entire evening. Even Pa was in a good mood:

Today (Monday - Labour Day) started off kind of slow as I didn't get up till almost 11am and we didn't venture out of the house till after 1. We went for a long drive, looking at rural properties for sale as I drooled over the tractors we passed along the way.
Tomorrow is the first day of school! I wish I was there to see all those little noise machines (kids) get on their buses for the day. I also wish I had some holidays left so I could sit home and listen to the peace and quiet that had been missed on this street since June.
This coming weekend Billy is going to the deer camp for some work weekend thingy and I will be on the island for a Board of Directors meeting for the station as well as the 2nd annual CJAI Pig Roast. This should be a hoot...I just wish I didn't have to attend this event on my own.

Yes I was WRONG !!!

The forecast for the entire weekend is RAIN and lots of it. There are two tropical storms happening in the states right now that have forced the rain our way. It has been pouring since 2 this afternoon and is not suppose to end till Monday. Thanx Ernesto!

Of course, the weather this past week was beautiful and sunny, but work got in the way at least 4 days this week. I did make it outside in the late afternoon to take some pictures of my flowers and plants before the frost hits! I am unsure of that this plant is called but I thought the colours were nice:



Ohhh I guess the big news this past week was the fact that the station manager figured a way to put the radio station on the internet. Yes, that's right kids, I, Cathy Jane Christmas am able to communicate to the masses now! Well at least a few of you anyways! I found out about 45 minutes before my taped show was to air on Wednesday night and I managed to get 8 people listening before the feed dropped at 10:15pm. So after sending emails and messages to all my family and friends across the land, I was prepared to have a pile of people listening to me on Friday night. I got to the station at 6:55pm; went on the air at 7 while I uploaded the music from my memory stick and watched the listener graph rise. By 7:15 there was 4 people listening to ME, and then the internet dropped. It came back up around 8 and then dropped at 830PM for good.
When I asked someone to call me and let me know if they could hear me online, I heard the answering machine kick in and my buddy Greg Hunters voice came from it. He said I was coming in loud and clear in Deseronto! WOOT!
So I was excited as I had downloaded an awesome collection of tunes for the night and due to the fact that I did not have time to check them all out before hand, well I ran into a bit of an embarassing problem. I had downloaded a version of The Odds singing 'Wendy under the stars'...the song about the night that Elvis died. So I start playing this song around 730ish and I almost flipped when it came to the chorus. In stead of "I made love to Wendy under the Stars...the night that Elvis died" I hear "I was fu*king Wendy under the Stars...the night that Elvis died!" Well, *I* could have died. I didn't know what to do, but the phone never rang, so I let it slide:)

Billy and I couldn't decide what to do today so we gave our friend Greg Hunter a call (seeing as he was kind enough to call me the night before) and made arrangements to go a visitin' in Deseronto:) Greg's two daughters Ami and Jossi were there, along with his lovely wife's Tina's two sons. And then there were two of the neighbours kids there as well! I had to take a few pictures:

Please note, their house is under renovation, this is why the walls are exposed:) (I know Tina would want to make sure I said that!)
And speaking of Tina, here is a picture of her and the Great White:

Here is a picture of Billy with 'Nelly'... the family basset hound:

And Nelly with the Easy button:

And that was our day. We came home, we ate and we watched the rain come down.

If it is like this tomorrow...well...it looks like we will be burning even more gas trying to find something interesting to do besides sitting in the house waiting for Harly and Judy's party to start. This is the third annual "Say goodbye to summer" party at their place. We need to get drunk to forget about the seasons changing! I'm kidding...but there will probably will be a few brewski's emptied during the evening. I might be tempted to take some pictures of this event:)

Sometimes I wonder ...

Friday was spent updating my blog, clearing out a bunch of useless files and programs on my computer. The few times the sun came out, I did slip outside to do some reading and take some pictures of the few flowers that managed to live through the summer with a water ban on. Sometimes plants need to be watered more than once every second day! So here are a few boring pictures of my surviving plants:




Why I did not move to a warmer climate when I was younger! Why do I subject myself to the ever changing seasons in our area? Being such an avid lover of the sun and warm weather, it kills me to see the summer turn to fall. Yesterday we decided to go to the cottage for the day, and seeing as we had been warned that there were 6 foot swells on the other side, we decided to take the ferry. Here is a picture I took on the way over:

Suffice to say, by the time we got there, the wind had dropped to nothing and the sun disappeared. It was damp and cloudy and dreary...and some people present were kind of in a bad way because their long summer holiday was coming to close.
Seeing as I didn't really get time to rename and reorganize some of the 1500+ music files that I have saved at the station, I decided to take a drive down to the station and spend a few hours getting stuff sorted. Here is the picture of the 'new' sign at the station:

someone took the time to plant a lovely bunch of flowers right next to the barn as well:

After I was done there, I traveled back to the cottage but stopped to take a picture of one of my favourite barns, before the wind takes it down:

After dinner, we sat around and yakked then took off a bit early to take a look at a house that is for sale in the village of Stella. Damn, if we bought that, I could walk over to the station on Fridays:)
When we got on the boat, I discovered our friend Brent Wolfrey's was the Captain, so I asked if I could come up to the wheelhouse for the ride over. I had never been up there in the dark...man was it spooky!! None of my pictures turned out well so I wont bore you with them:)
So I guess today will be a day to do housework! The forecast for Monday Tuesday and Wednesday is sun sun sun...Figures!
Next weekend will be hot and sunny for the four days I am off...I can just feel it!

Might as well keep this update thing going...

**edit** This was from yesterday but the blogger site was down when I tried to post it.

And I am trying my BEST not to do stupid housework today! So I am spending my day reading and gathering music for my show tonight.

Still bummed by the news of Kim Taylor's passing yesterday. Then when I read it in the paper today, I noticed that the announcement of another person I knew of was placed right below it. You know your getting old when.... {yes I check the deaths before the employment section...how pathetic}

But getting back to Kim. I had mentioned in my post about the benefit concert held for her last Thursday, I never knew this woman. She was 10 years younger than I and our paths never crossed, until I heard of the stories of her life from her friends and relatives. {how odd, one of the supervisors in my department was her cousin by marriage as was one of my favourite 'lunch-ladies' in our cafeteria at work}

I knew of her, she had never heard of me. But I knew a bit of what she was going through as I used to ask my Mom what the chemo felt like and how if effected your body physically and mentally. She told me it felt like being hit by a car, {I can remember that feeling somewhat} to the power of a thousand and then add in extreme fatigue...Similar to the feeling of when you go many nights without sleep. I am not a fan of pain, nor have I ever been that sick in my life before, so I didn't really understand, but I tried.

So today I had time to view a video a friend made last week at the concert of Chris Koster's set. He mentioned Kim quite a few times. Which made by bottom lip rumble..Then the gentle tones of the piano solo to commence the song 'Secrets of the Lonely' ... Then hearing Chris say simply "To Kim" .... and I started bawling.

The sun is trying to come out now and that tells me I better get out and enjoy some of it as it doesn't sound like a great weekend, weatherwise.

I have to record a Public Service Announcement tonight to run at CJAI. It is for a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk that takes place in my little village on October 1st. Hopefully I will do it on the first take and not get all choked up. Keep your fingers crossed.

P.S. I haven't taken many pictures this week, as my camera sucks...but I did take this one on the 401 yesterday morning at 630am...thought it was kind of neat:

Day 5 of Blogger Updates !!!

Yes, I think Im almost caught up on blogger updates. And Now, I am officially done training so I can start work on Monday morning at 8am and not 7am!!

Last Friday evening, I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Shayne (Snoshi) jump in my car as I waited to drive on the Amherst Island Ferry. He had told me he would be there but I kind of thought he may get called away at the last minute. In fact, our friend Ted (Rico) was suppose to do my radio show with the two of us but he apparently forgot. (He had to move...I forgave him even before I was mad at him) So away we go to the little building known as CJAI! As soon as we got Shayne's music uploaded and moved over to the On Air studio, Shayne started trying to get my laptop connected to the internet. To no avail, our signal was not strong so I just packed it up and enjoyed the company of a friend who I hadn't really SEEN or TALKED to (face to face) in almost a year!
Here is a picture of Sir Snoshi as he played with my system:

The next three hours went by in a blur and all our on air time was spent reminiscing and discussing our favourite indie bands and some of the concerts and shows we have enjoyed together. I was very sad to see the night end and I only hope I can convince him to join me on the air again real soon!
The next day we got up early to go to the market. We went to Morrisons for breakfast (which is always great for an entertaining time) then crossed the road to find the organic farmer from Picton who told us a month ago to come back around the third week of August for some HOT peppers! Well, he had lots and we stocked up on them some nice red field tomatoes and these very tasty items called ground cherries. By the time we got home it had started raining, so we packed up the car and took the ferry over to the cottage. Our friends Ken and Cheryl were already there with their daughter, her husband and their two children. It was pouring rain for the majority of the day so we were all kind of bored. Then Jimmy went down to the basement and dug out the minibike. This was done for the kids but they had to get the adults off of it before they could test it out. Here is Jimmy popping a wheelie for all to see:

Then Judy decided to take the green beastie for a spin:

I know Brenda must have been impressed that night as we had too many people to fit around the over-sized harvest table. We even had to seat a few on and around the staircase:

The next morning, we checked the LIARS Network and low and behold it said 40% chance of rain and winds at 5 kph. After buying stuff to make lunch with, we launched from the marina, after telling our friend Roger that we were taking off for Black River. We slipped across the gap and I remember commenting how calm the water was and how that had to be the quickest trip across to the county EVER!! This is one of the sheltered harbours just before we got to The Rock:

Remember this place, it comes into play again later in the story. So we traveled west around The Rock. We noticed a few places where the rocks had fallen since last year:

When we got to Wapoose Island, we threw the anchor and we had a bite to eat. Just as he grabbed the anchor, it started to rain. The water was very still at this moment and after we ate we put the bimini cover up ... well part of it...the sides and back of it were still at home. Great place to leave it eh? Billy turned the boat around(when we heard the thunder) and started to head East. As we started to get soaked from the sides, I suggested that attach the mooring cover at the stern for added protection. As the wind picked up, the rain/hail got harder and then the lightening started hitting the lake. The effect looked like boiling water in a pot. I started crying and hyperventalating and praying to God, under my breath. (Normally I would not be frightened as Billy and I are both very strong swimmers but the lightening made that whole thought obsolete. I knew was having an extremely hard time seeing where we were going as my hot air was steaming the windows. I was trying to 'REMAIN CALM' (my favourite saying) but it wasn't working. Nor was the depth finder and we knew there was a shoal somewhere close by. We managed to get around to the other side of The Rock and bounced over to the 'sheltered cove' we spied an hour earlier. This is what the same spot looked like in the storm:


Somehow Bill managed to slide under the bow cover and dig the anchor out. This helped as we just sat in the same place and bounced...But we knew we were safe as we had passed the shoal we were so concerned about. We sat for almost an hour (it seemed longer) and I tried not to act as hysterical as I felt. Then I got thinking about Bryce and how things would be explained to him if anything happened. This made me cry even harder and I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. Somehow those shots would tell the story, if we did not survive. This is Bill saying how sorry he was this was actually happening to us:

You can see how we had to rig up the two covers behind Bill's head to try and keep dry.
Once the storm subsided, we traveled back across the gap and it was one bumpy ride. I took my book out and started reading at an alarming pace. It took my mind off how scared I was.
Long story short, by the time we got back to the marina, the sun was coming back out.
Note to self...Check the MARINE Weather forecast, Online, before venturing out to the lake!!!

Concert for Kim Taylor @ The Elixir Aug 17th 2006

**Edit** As I was scripting this post, Kim Taylor left us for a far better place. RIP Kim.

Last Thursday night I was fortunate enough to score a ticket to a sold out event at the Elixir nightclub on Garrett Street. My friend Tina (GodBlessHer) was kind enough to hold a ticket for me at the door and when I got there (early as usual) I was shocked to find there were no available parking spots. Then I saw the lineup at the door and realized I wasn't the only one who was trying to get a good seat. When I got in the door, I grabbed the only available stool and dragged it to my usual spot at the front table. Due to the fact that I was alone for the first hour, I had to leave my purse on that chair and slid over to the bar to buy a beer and a bottle of water.
The first artist up on stage was one of my favourite Kingston artist, playing without his band. When Chris Koster took the stage, I squealed with delight as he never fails to capture my heart with his melodic beautiful music. His brother 'Billy Ray' was the one who organized the whole show in order to raise funds to assist a young woman with cancer who needs to travel a great distance for treatments to help ease her pain. Even thought it was only 4 short years ago that I was trying to comfort my own mother while she underwent chemotherapy. I know how important it is to try and help out others, even if they are complete strangers.
Here is a picture of Chris with his broken heart background:

I have never seen that place as packed as it was that night and even before the first act came on, it was full to capacity. My friend Tina and her two friends arrived just before Koster so we took turns keeping out spots free while we rotated our bathroom shifts:) And even though we were right next to the washrooms, we couldn't get through the crowd ... i think it was almost unsafe. Regardless, I made it through the crowd and 'held it' for the rest of the night.
Next up was James McKenty and the Spades. This band from Peterborough never fails to please and I swear my friend Tina Burke is their number one fan. She even had them play a gig in her back yard a few years ago. Now this band (who is under the careful eye of Gord Sinclair from the Tragically Hip) is making big waves locally and nationally. So what a treat it was to see the guys play for a few songs before they invited Gord Sinclair AND Paul Langois up on stage for the duration of their stage time. Then after a few songs, Dan Ackroyd got up and sang a few songs with a local artist named the Fridge Doctor. It was kind of amusing to see the two of them dancing together:

After that large group of entertainers left the stage, a surprise guest was brought on, with his band. It was none other than Matt Mays and El Torpedo. They happened to be touring with Sam Roberts and wanted to be added to the venue at the last minute. WOW...they were awesome and they didn't even play their big hit 'Cocaine Cowgirl"! After they packed up, Sam Roberts rocked the house for the next hour. man, for a little guy, he sure has a massive stage presence! Here is a picture of him hanging right into the audience:

Sam just loves his fans and it shows. For an encore, he dragged all the other artists of the night up on stage. It was a touching yet fitting end to a night that many will not forget!

Now you may be wondering why the pictures I took have so many white spots on them. The fact that I am using a crappy little Nikon 3200 camera that had been dropped a few times and has the batteries held in with an elastic. I am hoping to get a new camera soon but unfortunately the funds just aren't available right now.
So the night was a major success, I had heard the next day that they were over capacity by 10 or 20 people which means there was at least 360 people there. At $25 a ticket, I certainly hope this assist's Kim in her treatments!

Third night of updates...

Can you believe it? I have absolutely no time this week yet am getting my blog caught up !!

Ok so where did I end yesterday....Oh yea, the long weekend in August. Ok so I had to return back to work on the Monday (Civic Holiday)and found out that I would only be doing *my* job for one more day and then I would be in training for three weeks. Classes start at 7am. Crap, that means I have to get up at 5am!! *GaSp* Regardless, I have been able to arise on time and have not been late at all.

So the second weekend of August is Poker Run Weekend and we had made plans to slip on down to Ktown just to see the big, loud, gas-guzzling boats. That morning I had promised to help out at a book sale for the radio station I work at. The night before I did my radio show after a one week holiday and man was I tripping over my tongue! Oh well, its not like I'm getting paid for this...And its suppose to be a NO PRESSURE NO STRESS activity. We had a HUGE pile of books and the majority of them were grabbed up by the many customers that stopped by that morning. I didn't do a lot but I tried to help. The woman who was running cash said I was helpful so I am satisfied with that.

Even though I had to hand back my favourite camera at work, I have still been using my poor little damaged Nikon 3200. The battery hatch is broken and I am currently holding them in with a red elastic. It looks tacky but it works. Peter Trueman was doing his Saturday morning show so I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of him and Terry Culbert (Program Director at CJAI) and Peter as they kept us informed.

And here is Terry with the 'outdoor' microphone and Tom the station manager.


After I caught the 11 back home, we got packed up and hit the waterways over to the backbeach of Amherst Island. Billy jumped out and wiped down the boat while I sat in the sun and read. Then we decided to drive slowly around the back side of the island as it was calm and we had yet to travel all the way around yet this season. When we got down to the foot, we found it was still calm so we carried on to Kingston. It was KAZOO as there were boats of all sizes and types EVERYWHERE. I couldn't believe that there was a sailboat regatta happening at the same time as the poker run and they were very close together. There were many other boats just observing, so it made for a very cluttered waterway. We went around the backside of Cedar Island and threw the anchor for the last 30 minutes of the poker run. The finish line was right in front of us so we did managed to see the last 25 or so boats cross it. As we went to leave, it was another traffic jam as we heard the Wolfe Islander honk its horn as it tried to leave the dock. At the same time a dozen poker run boats were traveling right into the path of not only the ferry, but the island star cruise boat. (My brother just happened to be cooking on this particular trip so he can confirm the traffic jam) There were a group of blowboaters (sailboats) trying to come into Confederation Basin at the same time as the very LOUD poker run boats. We just floated for awhile till it was safe to cross. I couldn't believe even the ferry was packed with people that day:

We went over to the cottage afterwards for dinner and then came home to pack up for a long trip to Main Ducks Island the next day. If you know where the Lennox Generating Station is just West of Bath, you just travel 32 miles due South (by water) and you will find these islands that are uninhabited and have been the wreck of many a ship over the last few hundred years. The rum runners used to stay there till 'the coast was clear' when they were transporting their wares from point A to point B. Believe it or not, I have read quite a few books about this place over the years. The lake has always been a main source of interest to me. We followed Roger, Roberta & Jim and tried to get behind them as the waves were beating our little boat quite badly once we were way out in the big lake. That didn't work so well as I was beginning to feel kind of woozy when we got there almost an hour later. But what a treat that place is. Here is a shot as we entered the small bay where the only dock is.

The guys got out for a walk to take some pictures of the ruins of a small shack that a friend of theirs burned down last year in an attempt to send up an SOS as his two other friends were drowning in the high waves in their kayaks. Roberta wanted to go for a swim in that little bay till I spotted a baby water snake. So once the guys got back from their stroll, we traveled over to another small cove for a swim and a bite to eat. As usual, Billy made us all some Cajun chicken wraps which were very much appreciated.
Here is a picture I took there that I call Natures Steps:

The ride back took longer as the wind had picked up quite a bit. So our three hour tour was more like a 4.5 hour cruise:) I was very happy to be back around the gap and convinced Billy to make a side trip over to Stella Bay just for the hell of it. We traveled a bit further to snoop around Popular Dell. This place is always good for a lovely summer picture:

We went to the cottage for dinner and then back home to get ready for an early workday on Monday.

Long Weekend on the water

Yes, it was a beautiful civic holiday weekend...The sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. Of course we celebrated that by spending the entire day on the dock and in the water. Bert was kind enough to entertain us with her tubing skills. I was the spotter so of course I had to have my camera in my hand. Our friend Kenny brought his video camera so he got some awesome footage of Roberta bouncing across the lake.

Our friends Richard and Herbie showed up in Ricks boat and we had a small art viewing on the dock to try and keep up to their fine Odessa standards. Can you guess what the subject matter is displayed in this canvas?

Its funny the lengths we go to to protect our men. Here is a picture of my friend Judy protecting Pa's family jewels:

And at the end of a very exhausting weekend, poor Pa passed out on the couch. I thought it so kind of his friend Billy to assist in painting his fingernails black. Can you not tell how deep this friendship is?

I had to work on the 'holiday' Monday, so I had no way of extending my holidays by one more day. Having a bunch of our friends around us for the weekend was definitely cause for celebration!